Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever. | Oh, that they would have fear of me in their hearts and they would observe all of my commandments always. Then things would go well with them and their children forever. |
I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. | I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you already have so that no one may rob you of your crown. |
|
Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit. | Beloved, I pray that everything is going well with you and that your bodily health is equal to that of your soul. |
And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. | This is how we can be certain that we abide in him and that he abides in us: he has given us a share in his Spirit. |
Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. | As for you, my child, take strength from the grace that is in Christ Jesus. |
Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. | This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples: if you love one another. |
So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. | Let us then make every effort to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall by following that example of refusing to believe. |
And every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. | And every tongue should proclaim to the glory of God the Father: Jesus Christ is Lord. |
You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. | Whatever you ask in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. |
Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you. | Teach me your ways, O Lord, so that I may walk in your truth; let me worship your name with an undivided heart. |
All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. | God abides in anyone who acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, and that person abides in God. |
Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. | You need to be steadfast if you want to do the will of God and receive what he has promised. |
Deceit fills hearts that are plotting evil; joy fills hearts that are planning peace! | Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but those who counsel peace have joy. |
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. | For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may attain eternal life. |
Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” | Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you have faith you will see the glory of God?” |
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. | You believe that there is one God. You do well to assert that. But even the demons believe and tremble. |
I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth. | Nothing gives me greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. |
You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. | You did not choose me. Rather, I chose you. And I appointed you to go out and bear fruit, fruit that will remain, so that the Father may give you whatever you ask him in my name. |
In that wonderful day you will sing: “Thank the Lord! Praise his name! Tell the nations what he has done. Let them know how mighty he is!” | And you will say on that day: Give thanks to the Lord, invoke his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted. |
For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord. When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. | For I am longing to see you so that I may bestow on you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— or, rather, so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. |
For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. | For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so too do we believe that God will bring forth with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. |
See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. | See what love the Father has bestowed on us, enabling us to be called the children of God, and that is what we are. If the world does not recognize us, that is because it did not know him. |
This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. | This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, about whose coming you have been told, and that it is already in the world. |
Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. | Bless the Lord, O my soul; my entire being, bless his holy name. |
There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. | There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it leads to death. |